The Kirkus Prize is one of the richest literary awards in the world, with a prize of $50,000 bestowed annually to authors of fiction, nonfiction and young readers’ literature. It was created to celebrate the 81 years of discerning, thoughtful criticism Kirkus Reviews has contributed to both the publishing industry and readers at large. Books that earned the Kirkus Star with publication dates between November 1, 2014, and October 31, 2015 (see FAQ for exceptions), are automatically nominated for the 2015 Kirkus Prize, and the winners will be selected on October 15, 2015, by an esteemed panel composed of nationally respected writers and highly regarded booksellers, librarians and Kirkus critics.

KIRKUS REVIEW

In the final installment of a trilogy (Prospero in Hell, 2010, etc.), the centuries-old children of The Tempest magician Prospero undergo a literally harrowing voyage across Hell.

Lilith, the demonic Queen of Air and Darkness, plans to execute Prospero in a few days. Unfortunately, his rescuers—his daughter Miranda, her eight bickering siblings, her erstwhile childhood companion Caliban and Mab, a wind spirit incarnated in a human body—are scattered all over Hell. The questions that torture Miranda as she struggles to her father surpass the illusory torments she encounters. Can the Prospero family reunite and work together as of old, or will their habitual mistrust, untold secrets and hidden allegiances tear them apart? What accounts for Miranda’s utter obedience to the slightest of her father’s wishes? Is her beloved, the Elf Lord Astreus, irrevocably lost within his demonic alter ego, Seir of the Shadows? Who is Miranda’s mother? Possible answers come thick and fast as this richly imagined book hurtles through penultimate climax after penultimate climax, toward a somewhat predictable but entirely well-deserved happy ending. As Miranda, once cold-hearted and almost entirely oblivious to social cues, blossoms into a long-delayed emotional maturity, so too will the reader warm toward her and her peculiar, prickly relatives.

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